Report 20- Epic News- You Heard It Here First, Or Maybe Not!

New Location for One of This Weeks Troll Lines May Surprise Some, Thrill Others

Fishing

A pleasantly surprising and beneficial development opened up for us this last week.  Boy, oh boy, was it the right decision to explore this possibility.  Within 30 seconds of dropping the spinners down the fish were on it.  Two releases and a limit of fat walleyes later and two very happy fishermen were on their way home.

Thirty Seconds in and we had a 25 inch release on the board and hits on the other rods, this outing was looking to be spectacular.

A limit of 15 to 22 inch walleyes in short order made this expedition worthwhile.  Knowing that we were in some waters with very little fishing pressure had our expectations high, and the waters of this great fishery didn’t disappoint.

For the exact location of this unpressured find you can purchase our waypoints and find out where to get on some non-stop big Walleye action with the occasional pike mixed in.

Buy the waypoints from this report:

We have started to pull more cranks with lead core and long lining in anywhere from 8-10 feet of water all the way out to 23-32 feet of water. Cranks have produced some larger fish but the spinners and worms are still producing more fish but you will have to sort through the small ones to get a legitimate keeper bag.

Chartreuse and green spinners have been the best but pink with white and hammered gold have done well also, tipped with worms of course. On the trolling side, salmo’s have been our best ticket in perch, dalmatian (The Dog), or orange.  Seems as though some of the fish are starting to transition back on the pendulum swing so trying a little shallower water isn’t out of the question at this time.

Early Goose Hunting

Stud to Dud in 5 Days- Yours Truly

Last weekend we were stubble field, Canada slaying superstar studs!!!! We whacked ’em.  We could do nothing wrong, standing up and walking around the decoys and the birds were still locking in.  We couldn’t fight them off, it was like we were laying in a vat of goose crack and the B52’s were addicts.

This past weekend…not so much.  Sometimes things come together, sometimes they don’t.  Back to the drawing board and try to figure out what we did right one weekend and what we did wrong this past weekend, we will get back to you with the results.

FROGS!!!!!!

As I drive home in the late evenings from my second job, as of late, I have noticed the vast number of frogs crossing the roads.  If it is raining, that number is even higher, 100’s nay even 1000’s of leopard frogs beginning their migration. This movement of frogs to lake water areas will also trigger something else.

A massive migration of big Walleyes to the shallows, awaiting these super meals.  If you have never hooked a frog onto a jig head, casted out and let your bail hang open awaiting the line to start peeling off, let me tell you, it is a very fun experience.  In addition, 9 times out of ten, the fish that just took that frog is going to be a big one, Pike or Walleye, the fight is going to be on.  I highly recommend, at least once, you try it this fall.

CRANES- RIBEYE OF THE SKY!

If I was restricted to hunting only one species for the rest of my life, though I think I am really hooked on bear hunting, pursuing Sandhill Cranes would be my selection.

Ducks, Canadas, and Snows will get smart to decoys and can be a challenge at times but inevitably a few dumb or really hungry ones are going to be sucked in by the decoys.  Sandhills are different.  They’re smart, scary smart. Frustration level smart.  Lay there scratch your head smart.

To go along with that intelligence, they possess two other things that make them my choice.  An uncanny wariness for anything out of the ordinary and unmatched eyesight in the waterfowling world.

When I host friends and family on Sandhill crane hunts my first order is “DO NOT BLINK”, and you may laugh when I say that, but that is just how good their eyesight is.  If you do blink and they even think they might have seen something, they are gone, outta there.  They bug out at the drop of anything that just isn’t right.  This makes them, for me, the toughest to hunt and the most gratifying.

The crowning culmination of Cranes is that if you are able to bag a few they are known in the water fowling world as “Ribeye of the Sky” and that name is absolutely appropriate.  Having said that, you need to know something about Cranes and Crane anatomy.  That red capped forehead is only present in adults, birds that have made the annual migration.  While these birds will still taste fine, their flesh becomes ultra tough from supporting those 6 foot wings.

To truly explore a waterfowl world cuisine experience one must acquire a ‘PEEPER”, an immature, young of the year Sandhill.  They are delightful.

Sandhill crane season opens September 17th in North Dakota, I won’t miss it.

DUCKS!!!!!!

My Christmas Day, Halloween, and Birthday all wrapped into one!  The Resident Only Waterfowl opener is a date on the calendar I look forward to probably more than any other date.

I love fishing, especially on the Hard Water, but I am a waterfowl junkie, nothing excites me more than cupped wings and webbed feet down with the whistling of wings in my ears.  The anticipation of the “take em” call and green heads on the ground.

Our Early Canada season excursions have revealed that duck numbers are doing quite well in the duck factory that is Northern North Dakota and we are impatiently awaiting a banner Waterfowl season.  Just pulling up the previous season’s pictures for this report got me very excited.

We will be trying to get footage with the GoPro 4 of the Waterfowl Web working in the field as it was designed.  Hopefully we can share with you very soon some exciting action from the Pridelands.  The North Dakota Resident Only Waterfowl Season opens September 24th.

In Sam We Trust!!!!  GO VIKINGS!!

Well, Teddy’s surgery was supposedly successful yesterday and no additional damage was found meaning that he will or should return next season.  I am getting older, and while i don’t want to contemplate my own demise, i really start to question if the Vikings aren’t a little bit jinxed and if they will ever win that Super Bowl before I die.  Let’s hope so!  Bring it Home Sam Bradford!! (never thought I’d say that)

Deep to Shallow Transition has Commenced

Many things are contributing to the yearly transition of deep water back to the shallows for Walleyes; water temp, daylight hours, frog migration, algae decline, water temp, forage migration, did I mention water temp.  It’s time to start exploring those weed line edges again, pitching cranks and soft plastics for shallow water eyes.  There are still going to be those perch and eyes that stay in the deeper water, but you are going to find nice walleyes in shallower water in greater numbers over the next few weeks.  Perfect for the experience of a Devils Lake Cast and Blast afternoon.  Nothing like North Dakota Surf and Turf, Grilled Duck Breast with Fried Walleye and Perch, washed down with a cold one at the local establishment.

Specific Bays and Locales: Our thrilling discovery spot is LOADED with big Walleyes.  To find out where you gotta go to our Waypoints.  Other places to target are Dry and Mike’s lake as they continue to produce nice fish.  Black Tiger Bay has really turned on as has East Devils Lake on some deeper troll lines, that third ledge targeted with spinners and bottom bouncers or lead core and Salmo’s.  Rocky Pt. continues to have a lot of fish but many are smaller as does Military pt. and the Military Main Bay side shoreline.  There are fish out from the Country Club in Creel Bay, concentrate on the old road and that same ledge with cranks or spinners.  The Golden Highway continues to also produce walleyes albeit a very mixed bag of sizes.  All of the bridges and current areas can be vertically snapped jigged right now to produce fish, Highway 20, 57, Six Mile, and Mauvais bridges all have fish moving through them, especially at early light and late light hours.  Budweiser Bay by the north end of the Main Bay towers has a lot of mixed sized fish in it and the Towers Pylon rocks can be snap jigged to produce fish.  Two other areas to target with bouncers and spinners or slip bobbers and vertical jigging are Patience Pt. and Haley’s Hump, although they have become a little spottier.  If the fish are there, its game on, if they have moved off the humps is can be slow.